Tips for Calculating Your Moving Expenses

Relocations are a drain on anyone’s budget. But, it’s an expense that is necessary when moving and one that will pay for itself in the long run. Whether you are hiring Maryland moving companies or trying to move on your own, nothing comes for free. So to help you in calculating your moving expenses, we made these simple tips. Keep in mind that every move is individual, and for exact costs, you should get a quote from moving companies.

What are the most important things to know when calculating your moving expenses?

When you are moving, the first thing that might come to your mind is how much it will cost you. That’s important information that you simply shouldn’t be without. It is crucial to know an estimate of your moving expenses at least so you can plan your relocation budget. While relocation budgets are more tied to commercial moves, they are not unimportant in residential ones either. Either way, knowledge is key. You need to know what goes into your moving expenses in order to calculate them the right way.

Calculating your moving expenses depends on a number of factors. We mentioned the first one, which is the type of move. But many more can end up being even more crucial to your moving expenses. So what are they? A quick list of the most important determinants of relocation fees are:

• Type of move – residential or commercial
• Distance of your relocation – long or short distance
• Time of year or even month – moving has peak seasons when costs increase
• DIY moves as opposed to hiring professionals 
• Packing materials
• Insurance
• Additional services like logistics or storage

Residential vs. commercial moves

Generally speaking, residential moves are usually less expensive than commercial ones. The main two reasons behind this are the volume of items that are being relocated and their value. Commercial moves usually include moving sensitive and expensive materials, not only paper, chairs, and tables. They can include moving heavy and very expensive pieces of equipment that require extra care. Not to mention that an average office has more items to move than a regular household.

Another reason that may lie behind commercial moves being more expensive is the type of service they require. Companies can require more than a simple relocation type of service and often hire logistic companies Maryland that offer services like packing, storing, and distribution. So the more complex service is, the more expensive it is. This can be applied to residential moves as well. For example, add-on moving services can include assembly or disassembly of furniture, packing, and moving specialty items.

Long-distance vs. local

This is one of the most important factors when calculating your moving costs in Maryland. No matter what state you are in, long-distance relocation will be more expensive than local ones. If you are hiring local movers MD, you can expect to pay them by the hour anywhere. That can be as low as $500, or an average of around $1 250.

Since Maryland moving companies charge by the hour, it makes more sense that long-distance relocations are more expensive. However, not all distances are equal, and so the price will vary. Long distance moving companies Maryland can charge anywhere from $1500 all the way up to more than $14000. Of course, that range doesn’t mean a lot. It all depends on how many miles are between points A and B. The greater the distance is, the higher the costs.

Hiring companies or doing it yourself

If you are sorting out your moving expenses of doing the move yourself, you might be surprised to find out that the costs don’t vary that much. When you are doing the move yourself and hiring professionals, there are a lot of things you will need to buy or rent. The first is buying the packaging material. Used ones will cost you less, but they might be lower quality. And if you are doing the packing yourself, while you may save some money, it will cost you a lot of time.

The biggest expenses when DIYing a move are van or truck rentals. The larger the vehicle you need, the more it will cost you. Of course, that is obvious, but that doesn’t mean that you should try to save by springing for a smaller van and doing multiple trips. Remember you also need to pay for gas for every trip you take. Not only will that cost you, but you will waste a lot of time. In addition to that you may need to rent out moving equipment for moving heavy items like dollies.

Understand the various moving expenses

There are many more tiny details that are important when calculating moving costs. The first is moving insurance. For interstate moves, moving companies are required to have some sort of liability and protection under Federal law. While basic insurance is free of charge, it will cost more if you want extra safety.

Other miscellaneous things that will affect the total price of your relocation are packing materials, the total amount of items you will have to move – the more you have, the more it will cost, and moving during peak seasons which are weekends and summer.

Consult moving pros before calculating your moving expenses

Lastly, when calculating your moving expenses, the best advice we can give you is to ask companies directly. Most professional moving companies offer free estimates for relocations, so that will give you the best idea of how much your move will cost. Remember to compare moving quotes from multiple companies in your area and to ask for any sort of additional fees that may incur. And lastly, remember to ask for any possible discounts. After all, why not try to save something when relocating?